Zak Brown of McLaren and James Allison of Mercedes weigh in on Red Bull’s controversial A/B team relationship in Formula 1 with sister team AlphaTauri.
Red Bull and AlphaTauri have come under fire amid planned changes to the teams’ relationship. With the goal of boosting AlphaTauri’s performances, owners Red Bull have implemented sweeping changes to the teams infrastructure and operations, with a rebranding also expected for the 2024 season.
“I think is against the spirit of what the definition of a Constructor is.”
These changes are expected to see AlphaTauri use a greater number of parts from their Milton Keynes based counterparts. McLaren CEO Zak Brown has been vocal in his disapproval of the plans, claiming the new relationship brings unfair advantages in a cost cap era of the sport.
“I think the rules need to be reviewed and modified quickly,” Brown stated. “I think the A-B team ownership is now outdated for the reasons they were put in place many years ago. It was before we had a budget cap and had a huge disparity between our budget, Mercedes’ budget and the Force Indias of the world. It was intended to help the smaller teams.
“Now that we have a budget cap that I believe everybody is pretty much running at, it’s a much more financially fair [and] equal playing field. Therefore we need to maintain fairness for the fans and fairness for the sport. To have teams teaming up, I think is against the spirit of what the definition of a Constructor is.”
“I think both teams benefit.”
Brown continued to explain his belief that both AlphaTauri and ‘A’ team Red Bull would benefit from the relationship. He also drew attention to the lack of comparable situations elsewhere in the sporting world.
“I think not only does it help the B team, I believe it also helps the A team,” he said. “This isn’t about one team benefiting, I think both teams benefit. Every other major sport, to my knowledge, does not allow it.
“You can imagine, if an A and a B team and the final game of the year of the Premier League where if the B team loses, they get relegated. That’s not a position you want to have [in] sport and where the fans question what’s going on on the field of play and [if] it’s fair.”
“I am clear on what the rules are.”
Contrary to Brown’s beliefs, Mercedes technical director James Allison shared that he didn’t foresee any unfair advantage as a result of the teams’ collaboration. Referring to Mercedes’ previous relationship with Astin Martin as a key factor, he noted the rules now prohibit such collaboration.
“I’m not entirely sure what the nature of the relationships between those two teams is, but I am clear on what the rules are,” he said.
“And it is that other than the very limited part of the car where you are permitted to supply parts, and therefore a certain amount of technical data alongside those parts, in every other respect the rules are very tight about not passing on anything that could be regarded as intellectual property from one team to another.
“The way that rule is written is very broad and very powerful, and it pretty much makes any communication not permitted.”
“It is not allowed.”
Allison cited the rules which restrict the sharing of intellectual property as a major barrier to any major gains, before suggesting anything beyond a commercial relationship could constitute a breaking of said rules.
“In the past it was more open,” Allison explained. “And the relationship that Mercedes enjoyed with the team that is now Aston Martin, at the time that was a relationship that permitted much greater freedom than it does today. In response to that relationship, the rules were tightened up substantially to mean that you cannot really have a technical or a sporting relationship.
“If it turns out that there is one, that is something that would cause unhappiness. So, there is not much mileage to seek a close relationship with another team from a technical point of view because it is not allowed.”
